Floor-cleaning machine



www@ A. DWER FLOOR'4 CLEANING MACHINE Filed Jan. 5. '1922 2Sheets-Shee'?l 1 immnimm Antonia awew". y y INVENTOR ATTORNEY WITNESS:

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AL DAWER l FLOOR CLEANING MACHINE 'Filed Jan. 5,' 1922 2 Sheets-Sheet 2fam/5a A 4 A fu w @WWW xNvENTpR ATTORNEY mum expenditure of manuallabor.

ilented Get.. 30 l *ITED .STATES ANTONIO DAWER,

or PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, AsscfNoR To RICHARD H. WRIGHT, or'PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

FLOOR-CLEANING SMAGHINE.

` Application led January 3, 1922. Serial No. 1526,721.

5 andV State of Pennsylvania, have invented new and useful Improvementsin Floor- .Cleaning Machines, of which the following is a specification.

l This invention relates to meansfor clean` '10 ing floors'and the likeand it has more particular reference to machines which are of thattypeto effect the -scrubbing, washing andswabbing or drying of wpod,masonry, concrete and like floor surfaces with a mini- The primaryobject of this invention is to 'provide a novel form of floor cleaningmachine which is automatic in action, that is to 1 say, a machine whichwhen setinbperation will automatically andv simultaneously effeet the'operations of scrubbing, washing,

and swabbing or drying.

Another object of my invention 1s to provide a machine of the typereferred to in the preceding paragraphvwhich is mechanically 'operatedand only reguires manual labor to Figure 4 is an end elevation lookingtowards the left handof Figure 2.

Referring more particularly tothe views and in accordance with theembodiment of my invention show nlvco'nstruct arectangularframework orskeleton platform 5 from Vangle iro'n, the same 'being steppedintermediate its. ends to provide upper and lower portions 6, 7respectively, that is to say, said portions are disposed in differenthorizontal planes. Rigidly secured to.and supported beneath theaforesaid skeleton platform by means of hangers or brackets .8 kis asecond rectangular or plate framel 9 which is longitudina/lly .dividedby a centrally disposed inverted T-bar or brace 10 and in ltransverseparallelism with the lateral portion 11 there of are guide bars 12 thatare securely attached to the inner longitudinal wallsbf the said frame9. These guide bars 12'and the lateral portion 11 of the T-bar or" bracel0 serve as runners for the reciprocable support ofprectangular andinverted ldished frames 13, said frames 13 being adaptedforreciprocation by means of pitmen or connecting rods 14 pivotallyconnected between ,up-

move the same over the surface to be cleanedmtanding spaced lugs 15thereon. These pit- Further objects of this invention are to provide. afloo cleaning machine which 1s 30 simple inconstructiomcomparativelycheap to manufact-ure, and withal very .effective for thepurposes had in view. .'With the foregoing and other objects 1n /yiew aswill`become more apparent from r35 the'following description, this`invention consists essentially in lthenovel features of construction,combinations and arrangements of parts hereinafter fully described andmore specifically dened lby the appended claims.

In the further 4disclosure of the invention 'reference is to be had tothe accompanying sheets of explanatory drawings constituting a part ofthis specification and in which like characters ofreference designatethe same 4:5l or'correspondingfparts in all theviews.

men or connecting rods 14 in turnare connected at their opposed ends tocranks 16 mounted on or securely attached to a-transverse shaft 17journaled in bearings 18'supported by a transverseplatform 19appropriately mounted on the upper edge and overhangingthe rear end ofthe aforesaid rectangular frame 9. Centrally of andfse-Q curely keyed orattached on the transverse shaft 17 is a worm wheel 2O driven directlyby a worm- 21 on the armature shaft of a 'direct vor alternating currentmotor 22 arranged for connection to a suitable source of electric powerby means o f a flexible cable or the like 23-Figure 1. Resilientlysupported beneath each of the aforesaid dished frames 13 by meansvertical bolts or rods 24 under theaction of compression springs 25 is ascrubbing brush 26 of appropriate fand'durable nature, the back 27whereof is apertured with nested vertical perforatidns 28 for a purposelater on explained, and it will be readily seen that said brushes 26 maybezadjustedrelative to the frames 13 by means of the lock nuts 29.

Seated-in the lower portion 7 of the aforementioned skeleton platform 5is a sheet wardly direct on of the scrubbing metal or other appropriatematerial tank that serves vto contain an adequate quantity of waterandi-or-cleansingfluid to be used for cleaning purposes, and said tank30 is provided with an appropriate non-return `lift valve or the like 31connecting into a pipe and with a -shut-off cock 33 therein, said cockhaving a T discharge pipe 34 connecting into horizontallyT disposedlora'ncli pipes 35 entering the forward flanged ends 13 of the dishedframes 13. It will of course be readilyT understood that the aperturesor holes in the flanged ends 13' of the dished fra-mes 13 where thebranch pipes 35 pass therethrough are of a diameter to permit the easyreciprocation of said frames 13 and superincumbent brushes 26, whilstthe outlet ends of said branch pipes 35 may be slightly and downwardlycurved as shown in Figure 2 so that the water and,-or-

cleansing fluid may be ejected or flow down-- to the perforated backs 27brushes 26. Still further it isto be here particularly noted that thefforesaid scrubbing brushes 26 are preferi tray-like members ably fittedon their backs 27 with dished or 36 having perforar-te bottoms inregister with the perforations 28 and circumscribing upstandingperipheral flanges 3T-Figures 2 and 3-whereby any wastage or sloppingIover of the water andor-cleansing fluid is prevented, whilstit will beobserved that the brushes 26 are of a Width such .thate-when the. deviceis in use or loaded with water and cleansing ma! terial the bristlesthereof will effectively clean all wall edges adjoining the surfaceunder the cleaning operation.

The shut-off cock 33 isunder the control of the operator and to this endit is connected by means of a. rod or bar 38 pivoted to a key 39 on itsstem with the manipulating handle LlO-I4`igi1re 2-the latter having africtional connection 41 on the skeleton frame 5. This rod or bar 38 iselbowed or bent at 42 and attached to the manipulating handle 40 by anappropriate clamping sleeve 43, and it will be readily seen that whenthe handle 40 is lowered to move the machine about when in use the rodor bar 38 will effect the opening of the cock 33 and thereby permittingthe water and--or-' cleansing;r fluid to flow intothe tray-.like members36 from whence it will percolate or drain through the brush backs 27 andbrushes 26 to the surface ,under courseof cleaning.

In order` to provide`an, effective means for swabbingup.. and removingthe dirty Water and cleansing fluid from the floor as the scrubbing andcleaning operation progresses I arrange a transverse angle iron orfender 44 in the rear of the machine, said angle iron or fender 44 beingsupported from the underside of the platform 19 by rods or bolts 45under the action of compressionsprings 46-Figure 2. Thisvangle iron orshoe 44 is provided'along its pendentl against or towards suct1on pipe48 1s disposed transversely of the machine in front of the squcegee 47and slightly raised relative to the surface or floor lover which themachine operates-so that the dirty water is impelled thereagainst whilstthe said squeegee 47 cannot foul or contact therewith. The suction pipe48 is joined by an appropriate pipe connection 49 to the suction end ofa rotary pump l 50 suitably mounted or supported .from the underside ofthe platform'l9 and it is driven by a belt drive 5l direct from theaforesaid motor 22 by means of a' pulley 52 on the armature shaft 53thereof. Leadingfrom 1' the outlet end of the rotary pump 50 is a pipe54 which is upwardly directed to have its elbowed free end 55 arrangedto discharge into a waste water tank or receptacle 56 seatingsnugly onthe upper part G of the hereinbefore described skeleton frame orplatform 5. i

The entire machineis suitably supported on casters' 5T whereby it 'maybe easily moved about from place to place` and it will be readilyunderstood that the tanks 30 and 56 may be provided with handles or thelike whereby they may be conveniently removed for replenishmet oremptying respectively. In use and assuming that the machine has beenconnected up to an electric light or wall socket, and that the tank 30has been filled with water, or water and cleansing fluid or compositiom.the operator will lower the manipulating handle 40 which will bymeans'of the rod or bar 39 effect the opening of the shut-off cock 33and lift-valve 3l. This opening of the valve 31 allows the Waterand--or-cleansing fluid to flow through the branch pipes 35` onto andthrough the'brushes 26 which are' being simultaneously reciprocated bythe pitmen or connecting'rods l4being actuated from the motor 22 throughthe worm drive 21, 20, shaft 17 and cranks 16; Concurrently with theaforesaid movemeiitof the brushes 26 it will be understood that therotary jpump 50 will. be driven by the belt drive 5l is moved forwardlythe slop being moved forwardly bv the squeegee will be automaticallysucked up and discharged into the waste tank 56. In practice it will befound that my improved floor cleaning machine Awill effect a thorough.cleansing of a Hoor by being slowly traveled forwardly thereover, andthereby effecting a great economy 1n time and labor.

Lemans A`Whilst I have shown and carefully described one practicalembodiment of my invention the same is not to be conservativelyconstrued in that -it will be obvious the same issusceptible ofconsiderable variation. in structural details and the combination of theseveral parts without departing from its spirit or essential features;the right is therefore hereby reserved to make such structural changesor variations as fairly 'fall within the scope of the appended claims.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent is:

1. A machine for cleaning floors comprising superposed frames the lowerof which is mounted on casters, reciprocable scrubbingbrushes carried insaid lower frame, cleaning and waste fluid tankssupported by the upperframe, means for automatically `openmg a supply connection from thecleaningfluid tank to the scrubbing brushes when the machine is in use,means for effecting the reciprocation of the aforesaid scrubbingbrushes, andA suction means for removing the waste fluid from the floorafter the cleaning operation and forcing same into the waste iuid tank.

2. A machine for cleaning floors comprising upper and lower connectedframes the lower of which is mounted on casters, spring influencedparallel floor scrubbing brushes slidingly mounted in the lower frame,cleaning and waste Huid tanks supported by the upper frame, means forautomatically opening a supply connection from the cleaning fluid tankto the scrubbin brushes when the machine is in use, means fgor effectingthe reciprocation of the aforesaid scrubbing brushes, and suction meansfor removing fluid tank to the the waste fluid from the floor after thecleanslidingly mounted' in the lower frame, each of said brushes havinga perforate back and upstanding surrounding ange, cleaning and wastefluid tanks supported b the upper frame, means forautomatica y openmg asupply connection from 'the cleaning scrubbing brushes when the-machineis in use, means for effecting the reciprocation of the aforesaidscrubbing brushes, and suction means for removing the Waste fluid fromthe floor after the ,cleaning operation and forcing same into the Wastefluid tank.

4. A machine for cleaning floors comprising upper and lower connectedframes the lower of which is mounted on casters, inverted dished framesslidingly mounted in the lower frame,a spring influenced floor scrubbingbrush having a perforate back and upstanding surrounding flangesuspended belowseach of the aforesaid dished frames, cleaning and wastefluid tanks supported by the upper frame, means for automaticallyopening a supply connection from the cleaning fluid tank to thescrubbing brushes when the machine is in use, means for-effecting thereciprocat'ion of the aforesaid'scrubbing brushes, and suction means forremoving the waste fluid from the floor after the cleaning operation andforcing vsame into the'waste fluid tank.

In testimony whereof I afx m signature.

l ANTONIO AWER.

